Short-term Study visa

Pre-sessional students

Pre-sessional English language students are required to obtain a CAS number and apply for a Tier 4 (General) student visa. Refer to our webpage on applying for a student visa overseas under the Tier 4 route.

Who needs to apply for a Short-term Study visa?

The Short-term Study visa allows students to come to the UK for a period of up to 6 months (per calendar year) in order to undertake a short course of study, or complete certain academic requirements of their course after their Tier 4 (General) student visa has expired. The Short-term Study visa is the required route for the following Imperial College students:

Visiting / Occasional students on courses of 6 months or less

Undergraduate / Masters students who need to return to resit exams

Some PhD students who need to re-enter the UK only to attend their viva

Summer School students

Undertaking distance-learning programmes who need to come to the UK to attend a short induction or face-to-face module.

Please note that if you enter the UK on a Short-term Study visa, you are not entitled to:

Work (paid, unpaid, voluntary or as part of a work placement or internship)

Extend your visa in the UK, or switch to a different visa category from within the UK

Bring dependants

For more information about the Short-term Study visa, please consult the Short-term Study visa section of the Home Office website.

How do I apply for a Short-term Study visa?

Short-term Student

Visa national

Citizens of some countries are designated as visa nationals(scroll to Appendix 2: Visa National List - if your country is on the list, then you are a visa national) by the Home Office. Anyone who is a visa national must make an application for Entry Clearance as a Short-term Student from outside the UK. The visa will be issued as a sticker in your passport. Please refer to our overseas application page for a link to the online application. In addition to the application you will need some supporting documents. These include:

An original letter from Imperial College stating your personal details (name and CID number) and confirming the date(s) of your course / resit exams / viva. New students will get this letter automatically when they accept an unconditional offer of a place on a course.

Re-sit and viva students will need to request this letter by emailing Student Records. The Student Records Team will need confirmation in writing from your department of your resit / viva dates before they can prepare the letter.

Bank statements covering a period of at least 6 months which prove that you have sufficient funds to support yourself during your time in the UK (we recommend at least £1265 per month that you intend to be in the country, in addition to any outstanding course fees).

We highly recommend that in addition to submitting these supporting documents with your visa application you also carry them with you when you travel to the UK, so that you can present them if asked to do so by an Immigration Officer at the UK Border.

Non-visa national

Citizens of certain countries are non-visa nationals(scroll to Appendix 2: Visa National List - if your country is NOT on the list, then you are a non-visa national) are able to come to the UK as a Short-term Student without first applying for Entry Clearance (a visa issued as a sticker in your passport). Instead, these citizens can be stamped in on arrival as a Short-term Student at the UK border. Students who fall into the non-visa national category must make it clear to the Immigration Officer at the UK border that they are entering the UK for the purpose of study, rather than a general visit. They will not need to fill in an application form, but will be required to show the following documentation at the border:

An original letter from Imperial College stating your personal details (name and CID number) and confirming the date(s) of your course / resit exams / viva. New students will get this letter automatically when they accept an unconditional offer of a place on a course.

Re-sit and viva students will need to request this letter by emailing Student Records. The Student Records Team will need confirmation in writing from your department of your resit / viva dates before they can prepare the letter.

Bank Statements covering a period of 6 months which prove that you have sufficient funds to support yourself during your time in the UK (we recommend at least £1265 per month that you intend to be in the country, in addition to any outstanding course fees).